Awake, Watching, and Ready To Go: Nearing the Finish Line

I pray to walk in the tension that the Church at large has seemingly never been able to walk in—knowing but not knowing. There has to be a middle ground where we truly watch for the day with honest speculation, but at the same time, never put all of our eggs in one basket or one theory. Honesty, humility, and faith are key here. Honest in that we will be true to the Scriptures even if God's word leads us in a direction we didn't expect. Honest also when our speculation is wrong. Humble in that we submit our thoughts and theories to Scripture first, and one another second. No one is above Scripture and no one is above correction from faithful brothers and sisters. Finally, faith in Christ's promises. We will never give up, never surrender. We are almost at the finish line. As surely as the LORD lives, Jesus will keep His promises to us.

Jesus said "no man has known," but then immediately turned around and said at the end of the age it will be the wicked servant that won't know the day or hour (Mt. 24:48–51). Jesus also said to "watch" lest you not know the day or hour (Rev. 3:3). Likewise, He frequently commanded His disciples to "watch," "be ready," and even to judge the signs of the times (Mt. 16:2–3; Lk. 19:42).

There's a genuine tension in Scripture on this topic that extremes simply haven't been able to capture. On one extreme: "no one can ever know, so stop worrying about it." In other words, "watching" is judged to be nothing but allegory and the study of prophecy is seen as a fool's errand.

On the other extreme: "Jesus is definitely coming on November 12th." These type of statements, often prefaced by a private claim of divine revelation, have always been wrong, but I imagine someone will eventually guess the day just by happenstance.

I think what is far more concrete is what we see happening right before our very eyes. This is the generation. It's the only generation in history where:

1. Israel became a nation again

2. Jerusalem returned to the Jews

3. Hebrew has been restored to the Jewish people

4. Everything has been prepared for the Third Temple—including the priests!

5. Mark of the Beast technology and social acceptance are tested and ready

6. Global institutions and proto-global government are ready—one world government incoming

7. All ethnos/nations were finally reached with the Gospel

8. Technology explosion (air flight, space flight, cars, nuclear weapons, skyscrapers, computers, phones, internet, appliances—virtually every technological marvel and modern convenience is a product of this generation)

9. Hitting the 6,000-year mark from creation / 2,000-year mark from Jesus' ascension, paralleling the six days of labor before the Sabbath rest

10. The restoration of literal exegesis and accompanying systemization of eschatology after a roughly 1,500-year allegorical hiatus (I'm looking at you, Augustine), just in time for the actual fulfillment of these earth-shattering events; as Isaac Newton stated so well:

About the times of the end, a body of men will be raised up who will turn their attention to the prophecies, and insist upon their literal interpretation, in the midst of much clamor and opposition.

11. The advent of abject lawlessness in accord with Jesus and Paul's prophecies (Lk. 17:26–37; 1 Tim. 4:1–3; 2 Tim. 3:1–9; 2 Thess. 2:5–12); the world has always been sinful, but this final generation has embraced the most vile of vile, inventing new sorts of evil; and compared to most of history where most were oppressed as servants and peasants, the unshackled billions of the 20th and 21st centuries have used their freedom only for the pursuit of pleasure and self-divinity, growing ever-closer to stealing from the Tree of Life and rebuilding the proverbial Tower of Babel.

12. Apostate Christianity has arrived—whole denominations and tens of millions of Christians [in name only] have either embraced the growing harlot religion of universalism, behavior affirmation, and hedonism, or reject the Gospel from the opposite end—embracing legalism and political nationalism; the lawless embrace the whore and the legalists seemingly embrace the beast that will devour her

And on and on and on... There is no shortage of signs singling out this very generation in which you find yourself.

The Church should be on fire more than ever before—fully awake, watching, sharing the gospel, and ready to go, but instead, the Church is largely asleep, passive, quarreling with itself, and clueless. This is just as prophesied.

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Now here is some pure speculation:

The Feast of Trumpets has always been a very high watch for many, mainly because of three key trumpet allusions to the rapture (1 Thess. 4:16–17; 1 Cor. 15:51–53; and Rev. 4:1–4).

However, the "Feast of Trumpets" is sort of just a colloquial/traditional term. The Bible actually calls it the Day of Shouting/Blowing and the Memorial of Shouting/Blowing. Technically trumpets are blown at every festival, and, in ancient times, every gathering of the people.

People often call the last blast of Rosh Hashanah the "last trumpet" in an effort to connect it with Paul's statement "at the last trump," but the last shofar blast of Trumpets is not called the last trump. It's called the "Great [Trumpet] Blowing"—Tekiah Gedolah. "Gedolah" does not mean "last," it means "great"—it's the "Great Trumpet," not the "Last Trumpet."

And as I've reminded myself each of these past few years, Rosh Hashanah is not the last festival on either the biblical (Spring to Spring) or Hebrew (Fall to Fall) calendars. The last major festival on the Spring to Spring calendar is actually Tabernacles and its concluding eighth-day assembly (Shemini Atzeret). The last major festival on the Rabbinical Fall to Fall calendar is Pentecost.

I for one believe that Paul's statement that the resurrection and the rapture of the Church will occur at the "last trumpet" should be understood more along the lines of "eschatological trumpet" or "concluding trumpet." It's the final act of the Church Age—the trumpet call of God bringing the whole Church home.

But if there might be an additional festival layer to this, I would suggest that Shemini Atzeret, Purim, and Pentecost better fit the "last trump" paradigm. Shemini Atzeret and Pentecost for the reasons mentioned above. Purim because it's literally the last festival of the biblical year (even though it's a minor festival).

So where am I headed with this? Rereading the account of the post-tribulational gathering of Israel (Mt. 24:29–31), a light dawned on me: most translations have "loud trumpet," but it's literally "great" (megales, from megas—the same word in Rev. 12:1). For instance, in the LSV we have "and He will send His messengers with a great sound of a trumpet..."

Hebrew would easily be Tekiah Gedolah or Shofar ha'Gadol—the traditional great trumpet blast of Rosh Hashanah. In other words, what if a key mistake some have made is linking Rosh Hashanah to Paul's "last trump," when it should be linked to the "great trump" of Matthew 24:29–31 instead? The prophetic backdrop for Matthew 24:29–31 can be found in Deuteronomy 30:1–10 and Isaiah 27. And guess what? Isaiah 27:13 proclaims that the Great Trumpet (lit. "great shofar") is what will signal the gathering of the elect Israelites at the time the Antichrist is slain and Satan banished (cf. Isa. 27:1 with Rev. 19:15, 19–21; 20:1–3).

So, as I've pondered in years past, what if Jesus fulfills the Fall festivals contiguously just as He did the Spring festivals? In a span of roughly 53 days He fulfilled all four Spring festivals. Likewise, the original Exodus fulfillments of the seven festivals were consecutive, occurring all in the same year (Nisan to Nisan).

Shemini Atzeret 2022 to Trumpets 2029 is exactly 2,520 days. The Great Tribulation is explicitly 1,260 days, not 1290, 1335, etc. The additional day counts might be reconciled some other way (perhaps events occurring after the return of Christ, like the Sheep and Goats Judgment and dedication of the Millennial Temple).

So imagine if the final 1,260 days end at Rosh Hashanah 2029 and Jesus fulfills the Feast of Trumpets with its Tekiah Gedolah ("Great Trump") according to Matthew 24:31.

Then the Day of Atonement—Jesus' robes dipped in blood and the grapes of wrath. Atonement was already paid at the Cross. This is the at-one-ment / reconciliation / setting things right for those who have rejected the Cross. They are squashed. Don't be a grape.

Tabernacles: Jesus sets up His Kingdom, tabernacling with men on earth. Tabernacles is the celebration celebrated every year during the Millennial Kingdom (Zech. 14).

These dates are just food for thought, showing how a possible sequence might occur such that all the Fall festivals would be fulfilled consecutively at Christ's return. Again, pure speculation. I don't know the day, but I'm excited, ready, and aware of what's going on around me. I see the day approaching—and far more quickly than in times past (Heb. 10:25).

M - A - R - A - N - A - T - H - A

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ARE YOU READY FOR WHAT'S COMING?  Faith in Jesus and what He accomplished on your behalf is the only thing that will save you from what's coming.  Are you still bearing your sins, or have you accepted that He died for your sins and rose again?  Today is the day of salvation.  You're not promised tomorrow.  Get on the Ark, because the flood is coming.

 A dmit that you're a sinner.

 B elieve that Jesus Christ died for your sins and rose again.

 C all on the Lord Jesus Christ to save you.

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